Welcome to Shippers Council of Eastern Africa (SCEA) website. We are a business membership organization that represents the interests of importers and exporters in Kenya and the Eastern Africa Region. It provides a platform to articulate their concerns and demands to service providers and government regulatory institutions.

The establishment of SCEA is informed by demand from shippers and logistics providers to harness and consolidate efforts of finding to numerous capacity challenges and in-efficiencies in logistics especially in the ports of entry and exit in the Northern and Central corridors.

The cost of moving goods across borders has become increasingly important since countries can easily price themselves out of global markets due to the high costs of moving goods.

According to recent World Bank Investment Climate Surveys, East Africa compares poorly in several areas of trade facilitation, for example, in the number of days it takes to clear import and export cargo through ports and customs.

The turn-around times for vessels at the Mombasa Port, Dar-Es-Salaam is about 7 -14 days compared with two days in Bangkok and a few hours in Singapore. Such differentials raise the cost of doing business in East Africa and help to undermine the foreign direct investment in Kenya and competitiveness of Kenya’s exports and manufuctured goods.

Our role as SCEA

The East Africa Logistics Performance Survey is an annual publication by the Council examines the cost, time and complexity of the East African logistics Chain which reveal that high transport costs in the East African region pose serious challenges in the region’s ability to effectively compete with the rest of the world in trade. It is our main tool of advocacy in our quest for an efficient and cost effective logistics environment.

The indicators in the survey are Rates and Costs Indicators , Efficiency and Time Indicators and Indicators of Complexity of Trade Transactions. The overall Rating of Logistics Performance focuses on;

Efficiency of goods clearance process

Quality of transport and ICT infrastructure

How prepared are shippers?

Timely delivery of shipments Security of cargo while in transit

% of shipment that is physically inspected

Manner with which disputes are handle

Fairness and transparency in conducting valuations

Communicating changes in trade regulations

Incidences of corruption and rent seeking

The 2014 Logistics Performance Survey report is the third edition, with the first two editions having been published in 2011 and 2012 The survey report also forms part of SCEA’s commitment towards implementing the recently launched Mombasa Port Community CharterThe objective of the survey is to ascertain the overall logistics performance of EAC Partner States and rank them based on a set of logistics performance indicators localized to East Africa. A set of policy recommendations to improve logistics efficiency, manage freight logistics costs and improve the competitiveness of shippers in East Africa is proposed.